Play 4 Sandy

EMPIRE VBC PRESENTS
Please join us to Celebrate Sandy’s Passion for Volleyball and save the date 10/06/24.

Sandy Gunkel was the cofounder of Empire VBC alongside Coach Marcos, who met when their daughters, Ada and Katie, went to the same elementary school and lived in the same neighborhood, 15 years ago. Since then – The Gunkel family has been such an important part of the Avila family and who we are as a volleyball club today.

Sandy and Marcos started Empire about 8 years ago, she started as the Club Director and helped Coach Marcos make exactly the type of volleyball club he wanted: focused on family, kindness, and hard work. A few years later, Sandy was diagnosed with cancer. Despite that, she continued to show her support in so many ways and still showed up on the bleachers.

Sandy got to watch her youngest, Bonny, graduate this year and play one more season with Empire. We were lucky enough to surprise her with a scholarship we made in honor of her back in March at our volleyball senior night. After a long fight, she passed away a few months later. She was an amazing friend, mom, coach, director, and mentor to anyone she met. All proceeds will go towards The Sandy Gunkel Scholarship, founded to help any family going through a tough time.

Come help us honor Sandy for our first annual Play 4 Sandy Tournament.

Sunday, October 6, 2024

Check in open at 8:30 a.m.

Games will start at 9:30 a.m.

Registration is $180 per team ($30 per additional player after 6 players per team), which includes a tournaments t-shirt.

The deadline to register and guarantee a shirt is September 21!

Single-player tickets should be purchased in addition to team entries for those who wish to bring more than 6 players for substitutes. Please purchase these tickets AFTER registering your team.

All teams will follow standard SMBV 6’s coed rules and regulations.

*Medals awarded for all 1st-place teams

(3 Divisions for coed 6’s)

BB : Competitive

B : Intermediate

C : Recreational

(1 Division for High School 6’s)

Girls High School teams (all levels)

If you have questions, please contact:

Ada Avila